Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 352 - 351: A Return Visit

Looking at the people before him, filled with vigilance, wariness, and even hatred towards him, Wright was momentarily silent.

He was not an outstanding preacher—or even an outstanding priest, a fact he had known for a long time.

He was merely an orphan picked out from a pile of firewood, surviving entirely thanks to the old abbot’s kindness at the monastery. Before awakening his Holy Light Talent, for a full twenty years he was nothing more than a menial worker and servant at the monastery. Unlike those who were formally trained clergymen and received a complete theological education, or those born fortunate and gifted who could quickly learn how to navigate the intrigues of the higher religious circles, he was different.

In the year the old abbot of the monastery died, he felt the call of the Holy Light in his cries, and the divinely bestowed gift of "spiritual gifts" spared him from the fate of becoming slave labor at the monastery after the protector’s death. From that moment, he shed the coarse linen of a menial, donned the robes of a priest, yet in everyone’s eyes, he remained the crude, lowly laborer. He underwent the full education that a formal priest should and adhered to every virtue written in the Holy texts with a rigor bordering on harshness—because the old abbot once said, those virtues were what distinguished humans from beasts.

Yet after he learned all those things and turned them into his conduct guidelines, he found himself even more distant from other clergymen. What he valued immensely—the teachings of the Holy Light—seemed no longer to hold the same importance in the eyes of most clergymen of this era...

He knew he was an anomaly among the clergy. He knew the rules he stubbornly followed were already outdated in the eyes of the priests of this age, aware of all the malicious words, scheming, and ostracism behind his back, though he never mentioned it. Because he still held faith in one last thing: the Holy Light, in the end, was meant to protect others, and the God of Holy Light ultimately sheltered this world. Even those who wielded the Holy Light, though they might no longer value classical virtue and ethics, at least stood on the side of righteousness.

So he calmly accepted the church’s exclusion, the price of his "irrelevance." He also calmly accepted the task of preaching in the unwelcoming wilderness of the southern borders without any support because spreading the gospel of the Holy Light was what he delighted in doing most, but he could not calmly face these people before him.

Even in his most unsuccessful and challenging times as a preacher, what he faced was merely the apathy of the masses. But in these people’s faces, he saw real hatred and hostility.

"I am the priest of the Cecil, Wright Aiviken. You can call me Wright," the tall Wright walked to those people, slowly sat down, "I am the only Holy Light cleric on this land—so you can consider me the responsible person for the Holy Light Church here. As you can see, I have no weapons, no hostility, I have already left the central areas of the Holy Light Church, and now, I just want to know what happened on the Plains of the Holy Spirits."

"You burned our church!"

A young woman couldn’t help but cry out, but she was immediately pulled aside by the man next to her.

There were over twenty people here, but Wright was alone, yet these more than twenty people were in great tension—because they knew the priest before them was a Transcendent, and the power of a Transcendent was not something ordinary people could contend with, not to mention this priest had those bulging muscles, even without Transcendent power, the people present probably wouldn’t be his match...

And there was another important point: This priest was the only clergyman on this land, did this mean that this priest was sent by the leader to "investigate" them?

They didn’t expect to barely escape from the Plains of the Holy Spirits, only to face the scrutiny of a Holy Light clergy in this new refuge.

Wright noticed the nervousness of these people, he softened his tone: "Rest assured, I represent only myself—I do not represent the leader, and at this moment, I don’t even represent the church. As for the burning of the church, I heard rumors on the way here. Why did the priests of the Holy Light on the Plains of the Holy Spirits burn the churches of other religions?"

The people glanced at each other, someone finally spoke again: "Because they found evidence of heretical rituals being performed in the church... and the High Priest of the church indeed turned into a monster after losing control due to sorcery..."

"Then why were you all exiled? I can sense, you are just ordinary people..."

"They forced us to change our faith," the first woman who spoke covered her face, "They used Holy Light to ignite a bonfire, making us choose near it. If we converted to Holy Light and donated half our family fortune as Indulgence Money, we would be innocent. If not, we had to walk through the bonfire to prove our innocence. They said the fire ignited by the Holy Light would only burn those who were guilty, if someone died in the fire, they were the claws of the evil cult..."

The person next to them continued: "Some were pushed into the bonfire, some converted to Holy Light, while we... escaped early."

This topic opened up, these people who had been living in fear for too long seemed to have reached a breaking point and now, ignoring everything else, began to recount their arduous journey so far—

"Once we escaped, they said we were all bewitched by the Evil God, already beyond redemption, fallen individuals..."

"They burned down our houses left in the town, took the belongings from our houses, and pursued those who fled together with the leader..."

"We spent all our money, bribed soldiers and merchants, fled south from the Plains of the Holy Spirits—because the north near the royal capital had even more Holy Light Churches..."

"First, we traveled by carriage, then walked to Piste Fort, and finally were crammed into the ship’s hold like fish, hiding amongst barrels to avoid searches, barely able to lie down and sleep—we could only have a few people lie down at a time, taking turns to sleep..."

"Three people died on the ship and were thrown into the river..."

Wright quietly listened to everyone’s experiences. Under his Holy Light Cleric’s robes, his fists clenched repeatedly.

He could hardly believe that these were actions done by his former fellow church members... Had they all gone mad? Had the last teachings of the Holy Light disappeared from their minds?

Who judged who was a heretic? Who thought of using the Holy Light to ignite a fire to discern evil? And what was this Indulgence Money?

After everyone had finished speaking, the scene remained silent for a long time until Wright took the initiative to break the silence, "In the city... north of the Mage District, there is a small church, my church.

"No, I won’t force you to convert. I just want to tell you that if any of you become ill, are injured, or if the children want candy, you can find me there... I will always be there."

After saying this, the priest, who was built like a warrior, stood up and hastily left as if fleeing, leaving the people in the shed looking at each other in astonishment.

Wright quickly passed through the streets and alleys and returned to the church. He pulled out the letter from the regional church headquarters from his pocket and carefully read every word on it—now he finally understood what the Pope’s call for churches at all levels to fight heterodoxies meant.

After finishing reading the letter, he remained silent for a long time before finally raising his other hand and gently rubbing it twice.

A cluster of pure white light erupted from his fingertips. It was a slightly dim Holy Light, but still enough to ignite paper—in a few seconds, the letter turned into a handful of ashes that drifted away with the wind.

Outside the church, a woman, who seemed out of place with the surrounding crowd, paused slightly, appearing lazily elegant.

She was a tall woman wearing a light purple gauze dress. In this early spring’s cold season, her thin attire was strikingly prominent, yet the passersby seemed not to notice her at all, each walking past her.

The woman wore a veil of the same light purple color on her face, revealing only a pair of curious eyes, which at this moment were gazing at the direction of the church doors—although the doors were closed now, she seemed as if she could see through them, lightly chuckling to herself, "Hmm hmm... Humans are indeed complex creatures..."

Then the woman withdrew her gaze, surveying the city that had developed into quite a large scale.

"Speaking of which... how did this place develop so quickly... when were these small buildings erected, and when did all these people appear..." She murmured while placing her hands on her hips, "The last time I came, it was still a bunch of shanties!"

Just after muttering to herself, a sudden and crisply annoying shout came from behind, "Wow! It’s you again!"

The woman instantly turned her head and indeed saw the little fellow, half-elf, and heaven-knows-what standing behind her, rudely pointing at her with half a stick of frosted sugar (a local snack).

Then this pesky hybrid creature shouted again, "And you’re still wearing the same clothes and veil as last time—are you that poor?"

Melita Ponia, a senior agent of the Mithril Vault, specializing in top-notch services for high-level clients, a lady with excellent manners and graceful elegance, at this moment, wanted once again to kick this fellow in front of her away.

But in the next second, she still spoke with a reserved and dignified smile, "I have come to visit Duke Gawain Cecil, please show me the way."

"Oh," Amber quickly stuffed the half-eaten frosted sugar stick into her mouth, crunching it down before holding out her hand, "Six copper coins."

Melita Ponia’s eyebrow twitched, "Wasn’t it three last time?"

"The price went up, I’m now a bigger official, so it costs double," Amber said righteously, "You better decide quickly, it might go up again soon..."

Half an hour later, Gawain, who was in the study researching mechanical design plans, was abruptly interrupted by a shout from the doorway, "Hey! Gawain! Someone is here to see you!"

Gawain suddenly raised his head, surprised to see Amber, "How did you enter through the door... huh? Miss My Little Pony?"

"Long time no see, Your Grace—and once again, please pronounce my name correctly," Melita Ponia performed a graceful bow, smiling lightly as she spoke, "I have brought the merchandise you ordered."